I Threw a Brick through a Window

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

He was a cross between Edward R. Murrow and Indiana Jones. And he was one of radio's first newsmen. Like most of radio's earliest news reporters and anchors, Floyd Gibbons was originally a newspaper reporter.

My fascination with Gibbons began when I was working as the Radio Curator at the Museum of Television & Radio in NYC. I was going through some boxes in our warehouse when I found some rather interesting items. In addition to books, notes, letters, and other items, there was a small bag filled with what I later discovered were eye-patches. This put me in research mode and I discovered Floyd Gibbons, who would quickly become one of my heroes of early radio.

As a newspaper writer for the Chicago Tribune, Gibbons was known for an amazingly descriptive style...something that would carry over into his radio work.

His life is well documented in other places, but here are a few highlights:

As a young newspaper reporter, Gibbons covered 1916 Mexican Expedition (also known as the Pancho Villa Expedition), even though Pancho Villa declared that any "gringos" found on Mexican soil would be killed on sight. As a reporter, he gained Villa's trust and accompanied him on several battles and was able to bring important news back to the states.

In 1917, he was a passenger on the armed merchant cruiser (converted from an ocean liner) the RMS Laconia on it's final voyage across the Atlantic. On that voyage on February 25, 1917, the Laconia was torpedoed by the Germans. The boat sank and 12 of the 75 people on board were killed. Gibbons survived the attack and gained fame for his reports about the event. He later wrote a book about WWI called "And They Thought We Wouldn't Fight," which begins with the sinking of the Laconia.

Despite that, perhaps his most famous episode came in 1918 as he covered the Battle of Belleau Wood in France. During the battle, Gibbons was right up front as the American troops advanced. Gibbons was shot three times, the third bullet ripping out his left eye. Gibbons even refused treatment until injured soldiers were treated. It was that injury that gave Gibbons his trademark eye patch for which he would be known in later years. You can read Gibbons' own account of the event here.

Later on, Gibbons made the transition to radio as both a newsman and commentator. His fast-talking and descriptive approach to the news was as interesting as his writing. Here is a clip from his reporting on the devastating flooding in the Connecticut River Valley in 1936, which he observed during a 300 mile flight up and down both sides of the river:

Gibbons even had a book series called the Floyd Gibbons School of Broadcast (of which I thankfully have a set), and also wrote The Red Knight of Germany, a biography of the Red Baron.

Gibbons was also a very popular voice on newsreels during the 20s and 30s, including the Oscar winning "With Byrd at the South Pole," and he eventually received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Sadly, Gibbons died at his Pennsylvania home in 1939 at the age of only 53. I was fortunate to have had the chance to listen to much of his work, and still have copies of each of his books. They sure don't make reporters like they used to!

On the morning of 9/11 I stepped off the train from CT in Grand Central at approximately the time the first plane was flown into the World Trade Center, though I wasn't aware of the incident until I got to my office about 15 minutes later. Like the rest of the world, I was riveted to my TV, watching coverage of what we later learned was a terrorist attack, not an accident.

What many of us don't realize, is that something somewhat similar happened in NYC more than a half century before. Not a terrorist attack, but an accident, as a B-25 bomber flew into the side of the Empire State Building.

Long story short, on July 28, 1945, Lt. Col. William Smith was piloting a B-25 Bomber through New York City on his way to Newark when he got lost in the fog. Rather than land at LaGuardia, Smith continued his flight, and at 9:49 a.m. the plane crashed into the 79th floor of the north side of the Empire State Building. Fourteen people, including Smith and his crew, were killed in the incident.

Like 9/11, there were those who jumped to their death as they sought to escape the wreckage and fire. Two women were in an elevator that plunged 75 floors, and one of them survived.

All three major radio networks (CBS, NBC, and Mutual) covered the event, including interviews with witnesses and survivors.

My friend Joe Richman, producer of NPR's "Radio Diaries" put an amazing audio piece together two years ago, which includes interviews with some of the survivors, and some amazing archival audio material, including a recording of the actual incident as it occurred, as recorded by a dictation machine. Listen in to The Day A Bomber Hit The Empire State Building.

This was an amazing event with some incredible radio coverage. Coming out of World War II, radio news had grown up and was well prepared to cover events of this stature. Good radio is described as that which paints a "word picture." Not only did the radio of the time paint some amazing word pictures as reporters described the situation, but the Radio Diaries piece that Joe and his team put together gives you a great sense of what went on.

Saturday, January 02, 2010

It is one of the most famous and most memorable broadcasts in history: the Hindenburg disaster. You've probably heard excerpts of the radio broadcast and seen the newsreel footage on television. But there are a few interesting facts about this broadcast/event from May6, 1937 that make it even more interesting. But first, here is the text of a portion of Herbert W. Morrison's coverage of the event, during which he breaks down in tears:

It's practically standing still now. They've dropped ropes out of the nose of the ship; and they've been taken ahold of down on the field by a number of men. It's starting to rain again; it's... the rain had slacked up a little bit. The back motors of the ship are just holding it just enough to keep it from...It's burst into flames! It burst into flames, and it's falling, it's crashing! Watch it! Watch it! Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Get this, Charlie; get this, Charlie! It's fire... and it's crashing! It's crashing terrible! Oh, my! Get out of the way, please! It's burning and bursting into flames and the... and it's falling on the mooring mast. And all the folks agree that this is terrible; this is the one of the worst catastrophes in the world. [indecipherable] its flames... Crashing, oh! Four- or five-hundred feet into the sky and it... it's a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen. It's smoke, and it's in flames now; and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to the mooring mast. Oh, the humanity! and all the passengers screaming around here. I told you; it—I can't even talk to people Their friends are out there! Ah! It's... it... it's a... ah! I... I can't talk, ladies and gentlemen. Honest: it's just laying there, mass of smoking wreckage. Ah! And everybody can hardly breathe and talk and the screaming. Lady, I... I... I'm sorry. Honest: I... I can hardly breathe. I... I'm going to step inside, where I cannot see it. Charlie, that's terrible. Ah, ah... I can't. Listen, folks; I... I'm gonna have to stop for a minute because [indecipherable] I've lost my voice. This is the worst thing I've ever witnessed.

And here is some of that recording which was later married to some newsreel footage:

One of the most interesting things about this broadcast, of which most people aren't aware, is that it wasn't aired live on radio...and almost didn't make it on the air at all. The Hindenburg began it's journeys from Germany to Lakehurst, NJ in March of 1936. Reporters provided live coverage of a number of those voyages during its inaugural season, but by 1937 it was old hat, so no one was on hand in Lakehurst to provide live coverage. Compare this to coverage of the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Coverage of shuttle missions had become so commonplace, that by the time of the Challenger launch, none of the broadcast networks were providing live coverage, leaving CNN as the only source for coverage of that historic event from the beginning. The other networks obviously broke in after the fact, but missed those first crucial moments.

Enter Herbert W. Morrison, reporter for WLS out of Chicago. Morrison was an airship enthusiast who implored the station to allow him to go and record the landing on transcription discs, along with engineer Charlie Nielsen. (Transcription discs were the recording medium of the time; looking like vinyl albums, yet generally 16" in diameter. Most of them were aluminum based, covered in acetate).

The two main radio networks of the time, NBC and CBS, had strict policies against airing recorded material (outside of recorded sound effects). It just wasn't done, and, in fact, the Mutual Broadcasting System was seen as a lesser network because it did broadcast some pre-recorded material in year end retrospective shows. (CBS had an interesting way of handling this. In their weekly news retrospective program The March of Time, rather than use recordings of newsmakers, they would use actors and impersonators and recreate famous events. It was on programs like this that Orson Welles got his start in radio.)

As a result, it took nearly 24 hours for NBC to agree to actually air the recordings of this dramatic event, and they only did so in conjunction with an on-air interview with Morrison. This is the first time a major network allowed pre-recorded news on the air.

It is also important to remember that radio news really didn't exist at this point, with the exception of live coverage of events. For the most part, regularly scheduled newscasts did not exist; they wouldn't really come along until more than a year later when CBS's coverage of the Munich Crisis gave rise to the much heralded World News Roundup (which is the prototype for the way broadcasters cover news to this day). For the most part, news was on the air only with the occurrence of major events.

Because of this, Morrison's coverage of the Hindenburg explosion was a major resource and source of inspiration for a young Orson Welles and writer Howard Koch, as they prepared and presented the famous 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast. They tried to emulate the passion and emotion from Morrison's recordings as they described the landing of Martians (also in New Jersey!).

Finally, audio experts have listened to the recordings of Morrison and believe that they were recorded at a slightly slower than normal speed, meaning that when played back, his voice is actually faster and at a higher pitch, adding to the sense of urgency and emotion. Engineers have also examined the original transcription discs and have noted deeper grooves at the actual times of the explosion. With that sort of primitive technology (advanced for the time!) it is truly a miracle that these recordings exist at all.

History does not exist in a vacuum. The media that record history, also shape that history.

As someone who works in Social Media, and as a historian of sorts, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how media itself is a part of history: a shaper of history that is often ignored. My background is in radio and I’ve read plenty of books about both history and radio (and the history of radio!) to know that it’s rare for historians to give media its proper place.

Recent events have spurred me on to revive this blog and, for at least a while, look at specific events in our history as delivered to us via various media. In most cases I’ll be talking about radio, since I spent a good many years studying and analyzing the history of radio and its place in history.

In many cases, the media that records our history is an important player in that history.

So stay tuned...I hope you enjoy the ride. This blog, as it takes a new shape, is mostly for me, as I research a number of ongoing projects and use this space to give voice to some of that research. I'll be writing about a lot of topics: advertising, sports, aviation, war, disaster, life in general...but all in relation to the media that reported on and influenced them. And hopefully you'll find it interesting and learn something along the way.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I've been asked by a few people to update my blog. A fair request, and one I would love to favor.So why haven't I blogged as much lately? Several months ago I moved and at the same time went through a few other changes, including a bit of employment upheaval. I found that having more free time on my hands didn't translate into more time for blogging. On the contrary, I find that when my day is more structured it is much easier for me to sit down and write.

Fast forward a few months and I'm in a different state of employment upheaval, albeit more on the good side. I'm working more, yet the circumstances behind the lack of blogging is different.

So here's the deal. Very soon I will be "officially" launching my new website, where I'll be blogging more, but mostly about social media. Additionally, I'll also be contributing to two other blogs, writing about music, all things local...and if you mash the two up....local music!

Herein lies my dilemma: do I keep this blog, and if I do...what do I blog about? Do I use it as an aggregator of my writings at other blogs? I certainly don't think I'll have too much time to write for this blog AND three other blogs.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Well, for some people, Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer...but for me there is something special about the start of June. It just feels more like summer, and June is just around the corner. So why not a June themed weekend music game? This one is a little trickier. Put your music player on shuffle/random and let it fly. Just keep hitting skip until you find a song that fits the criteria. Here's what we're looking for:

Song 1: J - First song or artist that starts with JSong 2: U - First song title that includes the word "You" (or any variation, i.e. "your," etc)Song 3: N - First song or artist that begins with NSong 4: E - First song or artist that begins with ESong 5: A song that comes up that REALLY reminds you of summer.

And of course we'd love some comments and explanations on these songs.

And be creative...you always are. Doesn't matter if it's the first or last name that begins with the letter. We're all about creative license here on the porch! Oh, and feel free to do them out of order, because this one takes a little time. Just put them in order when you post them.

So I'll go first...here's what I came up with...

J - Jimmy Jazz by The Clash - from one of my all time favorite albums. Great way to start!

U - Thank You by Dido - I met Dido when she was doing a private show at my workplace when she was touring in support of this CD. I'm still hooked. This album stands up well.

N - Numbered Lithograph by John Vanderslice - Not an artist I consciously choose to listen to, but every time he comes up on my mp3 player I really enjoy it.

E - The Envy Corps performing Keys to Good Living - Great indie rock band that you all should check out. Love their sound. I think my friend Lori turned me on to them.

Summer Song - And It Stoned Me by Van Morrison. I was just commenting the other day that Van Morrison's greatest hits compilation is the perfect summer driving CD...great for a road trip.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

We moved to Lancaster city nearly two months ago, and the one thing this new house has that I've never really had before is a front porch. Not a stoop. A porch. About 8 feet above street level, set back from the road, with a railing, and two glider benches.

I've joked about the fact that I have a porch, and spend a lot of time on it, and this fact has pretty much gone viral. But it's more than just a joke or a diversion. The fact is, I love my porch. Because I work out of my home and have wireless, I can just as easily work on my porch. Just yesterday my friend Joel came over with his laptop, sat on the porch, and we both worked while we chatted. It was very relaxing. I can even have clients stop by for business. Much better than meeting inside in a stuffy office.

I can sit on my porch with my dog and relax. I can watch people as they pass by, figure out who my neighbors are (some might call that being nosey), and check on the steady flow of traffic. And of course, for those who follow me on Twitter, I can comment on what's going on around me.

Like at this very moment an ambulance is speeding by with it's sirens blaring...and my dog is howling. In his five years of live he has never howled until we moved to the city. Now it is a daily occurrence with the steady stream of sirens.

I also have a nice back yard with a deck...and lots of sun. I could spend my time there soaking up the warmth, but then I wouldn't be able to interact with Lancaster and its residents. I wouldn't see my friends as they drove by and honked at me. I'd miss out on a lot.

But for me, the porch is more than all of this. It is a symbol of community. For the five years that I lived in the suburbia that is Elizabethtown, I barely ever saw or got to know my neighbors. And not for lack of trying. But at the end of the day, they would drive home from work, the garage door would open, and they would drive in and close the door behind them...never to be seen again until the following morning when they left for work again. Here in Lancaster, in the two short months that I've lived here I've met quite a few of my neighbors. The couple two doors down made a point of coming over and introducing themselves. They told me that they really desire that our little slice of Lancaster would feel like a neighborhood. Like the kind of neighborhood I grew up in. Everyone knew everyone else. We played together. We worked together. We had cookouts together. I miss that.

So for me, my porch is really all about community. Or as one friend said, a "safe place." A place where friends can stop by and relax and chat. We can get to know one another over a cup of coffee or a glass of my home brewed sweet tea. Sure they have to deal with my over-exuberant dog until he calms down, but that's part of the charm as well. It's a place for both individuals and families. Grown-ups and children. To read one of my favorite authors, Wendell Berry, you will learn that community implies both "membership" and "interdependency." What I do has an impact on my neighbors. In his book, The Long-Legged House, Berry notes:

A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place isshared, and that the people who share the place define and limit thepossibilities of each other's lives.

That is how I view my porch. It may be MY porch, but I want to share it with others. With you. It is a sanctuary of public solitude, and a refuge. At times it can be noisy because of all the traffic, but when I sit out here alone, I am in a place of silence. And when I sit here with friends, despite the chaos around us, it is a place of relaxed conversation.

So...with that, I invite you to my porch. Yes, you too can be a part of Porchapalooza 2009. And if you can't make it, enjoy your own porch, your own community...and be welcoming to your friends and neighbors.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Today is Music Friday in Lancaster and my family and I will be hanging out at Building Character on the 300 Block of North Queen Street, checking out the music of Katie Becker and Trash & Glory. Hope to see you there.And since I'm bringing back the Weekend Music Game, let's look forward to summer. All of the big summer festivals are announcing their lineups. So I thought we could do our own festivals. Put your music player on shuffle/random and play the first ten songs...no skipping. Jot 'em down for us here and let us know what your personal summer festival would be like. So now, here's the lineup for my Porch-a-palooza 2009.1. R.E.M. performing "It's the End of the World as We Know It" on the Aging, but still very Hip, Rockers Stage.2. Bruce Cockburn performing "Wondering Where the Lions Are" on the Straight from Canada, eh? Stage.3. Mark Heard performing "It's Not Your Fault" on the Gone, but Defnitely Not Forgotten Stage.4. Chatterbox performing "Fallen" on the Industrial Porch Stage.5. Brandston performing "Breaking Ground" on the Back When Emo Didn't Suck Stage.6. Eric Clapton performing "Let it Rain" on the Guitar Hero Stage.7. Fleming & John performing "Don't Let it Fade Away" on the UberCool Married Couples Stage8. Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash performing "Careless Love" on the Dead & Alive Stage9. The Dingees performing "The World's Last Night" on Where Did All the Cool Punkers Go? Stage10. Starflyer 59 performing "No New Kinda Story" on the Gaze at Your Shoes StageAnd ten more performers who MIGHT make surprise appearances:The Lassie FoundationThe Vigilantes of LoveLovedrug764-HEROAndy PrattPigeon JohnThe Fire TheftThe Promise RingPony ExpressDolourAlright. Now it's your turn. If your music player programmed a festival for you, who would be performing?